After a tight round of competition at last weekend’s Prince Philip Games (PPG) competition, local pony-riding team Full Throttle brought home a bronze medal.
They were among the three teams competing at the national competition held in British Columbia on Sept. 10, representing Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
“It was a little bit of a heartbreaker, but nothing to be ashamed about,” said Cindy Sabourin, team member Kearstyn Sabourin’s mom, adding that the difference between first place and third place was an unprecedented 3.5 points.
“It was a really, really tight race,” she said. “Usually there are 10 to 15, sometimes even 20 points between.”
Even the PPG head office couldn’t believe how close the race was, she said. In order to determine the victorious team on several heats, the judges had to look back at photos to determine which team came out on top.
“We were actually in first place in the second heat and we had a couple of little mishaps in the last heat and ended up in third,” Sabourin said. “One little mishap and it kind of knocks you down. We had two incidents where riders came off.”
One such incident involved a rider taking a sharp corner at a fast pace, which ultimately took the pony down and the rider with it.
Although the team members are suffering from minor bumps and bruises following the competition, their egos remain unscathed as they are proud of the way they performed and represented their province, Sabourin said.
Two of the team members will progress to the international candidacy try-outs later this month, where roughly a dozen competitors from around the country will compete to represent Canada at the international level.
Megan Dick and Kearstyn Sabourin are the sole representatives from the Alberta North division and both are members of Full Throttle and in their last year competing in their age category.
Attending the national competition gave the pair a leg-up on the competition, since they had the opportunity to meet the host of the international candidacy as well as a pair of riders representing British Columbia, Sabourin said.
“The girls were disappointed with third place. They didn’t want to come home with third place, but given the score, it did give them confidence for sure,” said Sabourin.
The international candidacy try-outs take place from Sept. 23 to 25 in Ontario. If the girls make the team, they will head to Australia in April to compete for the international title with Team Canada.
